Hell is a Playground
by TheGirlWithGoldenEyes
Summary: "Hell?" Natsu repeated with a dark chuckle. "Hell sounds like a playground to a fire mage." T for mild mature language and Hell.


**Nice little action-y one-shot for you all. Honestly, I had created this one little scene and it kept replaying in my head, especially the dialogue, so I created this fic around that. I mean, it was too good to pass up. Also, this follows one of my headcanons for Natsu.**

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The group of six skidded to a halt in front of a broad shouldered figure. His bright, shoulder length crimson hair was pushed back so as not to fall in the way of his silver eyes. It stood out greatly against his pale skin and dark clothing. He stood with his arms folded behind his back, a wide, sadistic smirk playing on his lips.

"Ah, so you've finally arrived..." His deep voice was sickeningly sweet, though his eyes gave away his malicious intentions. "Fairy Tail."

Natsu took a step forward, prepared to give this guy a piece of his mind. He stopped when the flat side of Erza's sword pressed against his chest. His onyx eyes flicked to the scarlet haired woman, who was facing the man before them with a hard glare. "State your business." She demanded.

He let out a hearty laugh, a hand coming up to press against his forehead. "As terse as the rumors have stated, Titania." He composed himself, letting his arm fall back to his side. "Allow me to introduce myself. They call me Inferno."

"State your business." Erza repeated in a warning tone.

"Ah, right. I assume that you've tracked us down because of the attacks on your guild members." He paused to gauge their reactions. A simple nod and a narrow of eyes from the redheaded requip mage told him to continue. "That's what I was hoping for. Those minor attacks were the bait to lure you fairies out here."

"Oi, what the hell do you mean?" The dark haired ice mage shouted, starting to get irritated by the way he was dancing around the subject. "Why did you want us out here?"

"To test out our new power." He replied with a grin. "We recently happened upon a magical stream, one that increased all of our powers sufficiently. You _are_ the most powerful guild in Fiore, so what better way to test out our magic than on challenging opponents?" He suddenly looked uninterested, dropping his gaze to his black painted nails. "I must say that I'm a bit disappointed. What a weak bunch they've sent."

"What'd you just say?" Natsu growled, taking another step forward.

"Weak." He taunted. "You're all a bunch of kids."

"You're wrong!" Lucy exclaimed, her fists balling at her sides. Her eyes were set in a fierce glare. "We're mages of Fairy Tail, and Fairy Tail is not weak."

"Lucy." Erza called, warning her not to provoke the man any further. The celestial mage returned to her normal stance, though her glare didn't waver.

Inferno smiled, meeting Lucy's narrowed eyes with his piercing silver gaze. Much to his surprise, the girl did not back down. "Do you want to know what type of magic I use, dear?" When he received no answer, he decided to continue. "My magic is linked directly with the gates of Hell."

Lucy's eyes widened a bit at this new information, earning a satisfactory smirk from the tall man. Erza's expression hardened, as did those of Gray, Juvia, and Happy. Natsu, however, let out a few snickers. His team members glanced at him wearily. Inferno flicked his gaze to the salmon haired mage, narrowing his eyes.

"Something funny?" He snarled, all signs of faux kindness vanishing.

"Hell?" Natsu repeated with a dark chuckle. "Hell sounds like a playground to a fire mage."

Inferno's silver orbs widened a tad before returning to their previous scowl. Natsu smirked at him, sliding his foot back to get into his preferred battle stance. His fists clenched on either side of him, causing the muscles in his arms to ripple. "You guys go on ahead. I can handle this guy."

Erza nodded, motioning for Gray, Juvia, and Lucy to follow her. Lucy hesitated for a moment before running after them. She looked over her shoulder and gave Natsu a wide grin. He returned it before looking towards his opponent. Flames erupted from his hands, coiling up his arms and licking at his skin. He welcomed the heat eagerly.

"Your interpretation of yourself seems to be a bit foggy." The crimson haired mage taunted. "I suppose I'll just have to clear it up for you."

Inferno spread his arms out, palms facing towards the ground. His fingers curled under as he shouted, "Open, Gates of Hell, I command thee!"

Below Natsu's feet, a large set of flaming iron double-doors formed. Across them were intricate designs, spelling out words in a language the fire mage was unfamiliar with. Suddenly, the gates began to open, leaving him no time to leap to safety. Ear piercing screeches of agony filled Natsu's ears as he plummeted downwards towards the hungry flames. Dark, jagged rocks ran around the walls, making it seem like some sort of cave. Further below, there was no solid ground. What seemed to be a lake of boiling magma replaced the floor.

Natsu braced himself for the inevitable impact, actually kind of curious as to how his body would react to something as hot as magma. However, just as one sandaled foot dipped into the bright scarlet pit of absolute despair, he felt himself being suspended. He sniffed, instantly perking up as a familiar scent hit his nose, though it was almost hard to distinguish as it was mingling with the thick smell of death and decay in the air.

"Happy!" He exclaimed, glancing up at the blue nekomander.

"That was too close, Natsu." Happy whined, his eyes nearly tearful. "I almost didn't catch you at max speed."

"Don't worry, Happy. I'm still here." He smiled reassuringly at his friend. His onyx eyes shined with determination. "Now let's go kick Infrared's ass!"

"Inferno." Happy corrected with a sweatdrop, beginning to pull his friend out of this Hell.

"Him too."

Natsu surveyed the area, noticing piles of bones melting in the scalding liquid below his feet. Several of what seemed to be humans were burning in the flames, screaming out in their eternal agony. The angry flames swallowed their bodies. Their flesh was blackened and beginning to peel. The salmon headed boy's eyes widened at the sight. An uneasy chill ran down his spine. This place was absolutely cruel.

As Happy flew back towards the gates, blackened skeletons started to move. They clawed at Natsu's legs, desperately trying to get a grip on him. Their boney fingers hooked into the fabric of his pants and wrapped around his ankles. He thrashed his legs around in an attempt to shake them off. Whether they were trying to escape with him or keep him inside didn't really matter at the moment. Happy increased his speed, pulling them both out into the open again. The blue Exceed carefully placed Natsu on the ground before flying high above him so as not to be in the way.

"So he lives." Inferno taunted, arms crossed over his broad chest. "Though it seems you've had a few close encounters." He commented, gesturing to the tattered bottoms of Natsu's pants and his missing sandal.

"Shut the hell up and fight me already." Natsu groaned, already tired of hearing this guy babble.

The crimson haired mage growled underneath his breath, stepping towards the edge of the gates. Ignoring the horrifying chasm of doom just below his feet, he raised his hands above it. "You say you're a fire mage, but not even you can withstand the flames of Hell. You will burn for your sins!"

As he spoke, the flames from the gate seemed to grow, bursting out of the gate like a wall of fire. Natsu stared at it in awe, watching as it coiled around itself to form a large ball. Inferno sent the orb of fire flying towards him, leaving him absolutely no time to dodge. The bright flames engulfed Natsu's body, causing the garnet haired man to smirk to himself.

"This was simply too easy." Inferno chuckled, satisfied with himself.

"I don't know what you're goin' on about." The salmon haired boy yelled, mouth wide as he began to inhale the fire surrounding his body. "This fight ain't even begun yet." He swallowed what had been a massive ball of flame, wiping his mouth with a smirk. "Damn, I've eaten better meals from campfires."

Inferno's mouth fell open, clearly displaying his shock. He took a step back as his arrogance began to falter, giving way to what seemed like fear. "You... You're that dragon slayer, the Salamander!"

Natsu's grin only grew, pointed fangs making themselves apparent as he snickered. "That's me."

Without wasting any more time, Natsu lurched forwards, swinging a scalding fist towards his challenger. The other was forced to take the hit, attempting, and failing, to block it. Inferno staggered, raising his palms again to command a stream of lava from the gates. Natsu slid out of the way as it was hurled at him. He launched an attack of his own, breathing in deeply before sending a mouthful of fire towards the older man.

Inferno narrowly dodged, cringing at the heat of Natsu's roar as it blasted past him. "You damn brat!" He hollered, sending a few charred souls from the pit to attack his opponent. "No one can defeat me, not with my new powers!"

The pink headed slayer swung his leg, catching the blackened soldiers as he did so. Their frail state made them easy to take out, and Natsu wondered if Inferno was becoming desperate. He looked up, not having any time to dodge the tendrils of lava that were currently heading straight for his face. Thinking quickly, he did the only thing he could.

He swallowed it. The lava. Swallowed it whole. Inferno's face drained of all color as he shakily raised a hand to point at the slayer. It looked as if he were trying to say something, though it seemed to never make it out of his mouth. Sure, he had heard crazy things about this 'Salamander' in particular, but he hadn't been expecting _that._

Natsu cringed as the scalding liquid slid down his throat, having achieved much higher temperatures than anything he's been thrown before. This stuff was hurting more than Etherion! As the lava filled his stomach, he could practically feel magic energy singing in his veins. He smiled brightly, a bead of sweat from the lava's intense heat rolling down his forehead. "This is what I call fired up!"

Inferno looked on in horror as the other's body erupted into flames. Natsu cried out at he soared into the air high above the Hell mage's head, attacking with his brilliant flame. The dragon slayer landed on his feet, still bathed in fire as he assessed the damage to his opponent. The man was lying flat on his back, staring up with a dazed look. He was charred from head to toe.

"Might wanna put some ice on that." A certain stripper joked as he ran up to the scene, skidding to a halt beside Natsu. The fire and ice mages high-fived as Juvia, Erza, and Lucy all caught up with them. They seemed to have just finished their own battles and headed over to assist Natsu.

"Alright Natsu!" Lucy cheered, looking down at the defeated, terrified man. "Looks like he won't be underestimating us from this point on."

Erza nodded with a smile, Juvia and Gray doing the same. Happy flew down to land atop Natsu's head, tail curling around the slayer's shoulder. "Aye!"

"He wasn't that strong." Natsu shrugged.

"Neither was the rest of the guild." Erza commented, scratching her chin at the thought. "We wiped them out easily. Inferno was supposedly their guild master."

"Juvia thinks they were mislead about the magic stream." The water mage commented. "Juvia has never heard of such a thing."

"Whatever it was, it's no problem now!" Gray whooped, smirking. "We kicked ass. Come on, let's get home."

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**Meh I'm bad at endings. Hope the fight didn't seem too rushed. It sounds a lot more drawn out when you're writing it and then you read it and you're like "Wow, this is so short.". Oh well, hope you enjoyed the story. Reviews are much appreciated!**


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